To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website

Convocation
. February 20, 1989
New Students, New Programs-New Literacy!
Reflections on the Evolving Role of the Humanities
In Contemporary Higher Education
By President Edmund F. Ackell
It's a pleasure to share the stage with our distinguished faculty. To the boundaries of anyone depanment or profession. It means that a person
review their accomplishments and abilities is a lesson in both personal has thought about the broad concerns of human life, about the traditions and
humility and institutional pride. They are people with a most profound responsibilities of citizenship, and about the meaning of morality and
dedication to their disciplines, their students, and their University. They ethics for a free and independent human being.
remind us of the high calling and high standards to which we all aspire. The humanities are, and must continue to be, the soli'd foundation upon
Because these distinguished faculty represent so much of what is best which a strong higher education is built.
and most important in university life, I would like to use this occasion to Remember, the humanities teach not only their own majors, but all
discuss with you a matter that I'm sure they would agree is of the utmost majors. Their classes concern all of us. If the critics are right and the
importance to all of us. humanities professors have betrayed their own disciplines, then it is nOl
The matter is the humanities. only their majors but all students who suffer. If the humanists are
As you undoubtedly know, the academic disciplines we call the right-as I believe they are-to claim that they are currently in the midst
humanities-philosophy, literature, history, and related fields-are in a of an extraordinary renewal and reinvigoration, we need to understand what
sort of crisis. A number of highly visible and vocal critics-most notably is going on so that we too can become their champions, and we need to be
former Secretary of Education William Bennett, University of Chicago sure that our students are effectively involved.
Professor Allan Bloom, and Chairman of the National Endowment for the In diplomacy, it is said that war is too important to leave to the
Humanities Lynne V. Cheney-have charged these disciplines with moral generals. In higher education, the humanities are too important to be left
failure and intellectual irresponsibility. to the humanists. We must all engage in it, for its outcomes will have a
If true, these charges are serious for that would signal a collapse of major effect on the education of all our students.
our belief in higher education as a liberating, humanistic process. They Our need is to understand what our students are learning in their
are not true, of course. Yet they signal a problem which cannot be humanities classes and what our colleagues are teaching. We need to see the
dismissed without some thought. facts which underlie the current furor and to understand the differing
---- hr. nutshelt,-the-critics claim that"today's-English and-plrilusophy--------rntefj'lretliIions of tnosefiiClS-:-Per aps most importan , we neeaTo Kiiow
professors, political scientists and historians have compromised the truth both what the humanities are contributing to our students and what we would
by selling out to ideology. hope to have from them.
Their indictment says that instead of teaching the central works of And finally, we should all be listening to the debate in order to
Western civilization, today 's humanities professors teach fashionable clarify our own ideas about humanistic education.
trivia. Rather than the "Great Books," they are teaching trendy but For my own pan, I would like to add a small bit to the debate by
inconsequential works by second-, third-, and tenth-rate authors. The claim mentioning three important vectors of change in higher education. These
is that today 's humanities professors are aSking students not to grapple three factors have not received much attention, but they are important.
with the central questions of civilized man but with the ephemeral and They will have a crucial role in shaping our curricula and instruction for
leftist agenda of racial oppression, class conflict, and economic the future.
exploitation. First, it seems to me that we cannot ignore, as Bennett and his
In Socrates' time, their charge would have been that the humanities followers seem to do, the simple fact that the student body in American
have become corrupters of youth. A generation ago, it would have been that higher education has been changing drastically for 30 years and is going to
the humanities have become un-American. Today, the charge is that they change still more. Our current system of providing liberal education was
promote cultural illiteracy. formed during the first half of this century. It served well so long as the
The humanities, fortunately, have some able defenders. Most students it was designed to serve-young, middle-to-upper-class white
impressively, the recent report by the American Council of Learned males-were the large majority in the student body.
Societies, Speaking for the Humanities, mounts a powerful counter-attack. That time, however, is past. The average college student today is not
It claims that today 's academic humanities are healthier, more vital, and 18-24 years old but closer to 30 than to 20. And most projections show that
more engaged in American intellectual life than ever before. the age of the student body will keep getting older for the next ten years,
And yet, the humanities are clearly on the defensive. The empirical at least. Today's college students and those of the future are more likely
evidence, though arguable and scattered, seems to support the critics. to be women than men, and the odds increasingly favor that they will be
American college graduates, according to Robert Zemsky's analysis of 30,000 Hispanic Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, or not Americans at
transcripts from a broad spectrum of colleges, have little depth in the all but international students.
humanities. And the NEH's report The Humanities in America cites a Today's students increasingly mix full-time work with pan-time study.
depressing litany of statistics demonstrating a 20-year decline in student Only a fraction of today's students graduate in four years; most punctuate
involvement with liberal ans disciplines. their time in school with extended periods of work. And nearly half of
It would be easy and, in some sense, natural for most of us to nod America's college students attend pan-time and in the evening. They do not
sagely about all this and let it go. After all, this is a dispute among the bring to the classroom the typical experiences of the traditional "college
liberal ans depanments, isn't it? It should be left to the English and boy." Instead, they have attitudes and ambitions developed in jobs and
philosophy faculties. The large majority of our faculty at VCU-indeed. at offices and factories, and they think more like employees or managers than
any major research university-are in the scientific, professional, and like adolescents.
technological disciplines, not the humanities. This dispute, one might Is it any wonder, then, that the system developed to serve traditional
argue, is not a part of our concern. students is breaking down as the student body becomes progressively more
Traditionally, that's how we handle things at universities. We let the pluralistic, international, multicultural, and nontraditional? Older, more
experts in the disciplines determine their own needs and make their own experienced at work and in life, predominately female, increasingly drawn
decisions about what and how to teach. from ethnic minorities, the changing student bodies look for different
In this case, though, such an attitude is seriously wrong. The liberal things from higher education than former ones, and they bring a very
ans concern all of us. A college degree means more than just a thorough different set of assumptions to their role as students.
mastery of a single discipline or science. It also means that those who
receive it have some broad and general understanding of truths far exceeding

Convocation
. February 20, 1989
New Students, New Programs-New Literacy!
Reflections on the Evolving Role of the Humanities
In Contemporary Higher Education
By President Edmund F. Ackell
It's a pleasure to share the stage with our distinguished faculty. To the boundaries of anyone depanment or profession. It means that a person
review their accomplishments and abilities is a lesson in both personal has thought about the broad concerns of human life, about the traditions and
humility and institutional pride. They are people with a most profound responsibilities of citizenship, and about the meaning of morality and
dedication to their disciplines, their students, and their University. They ethics for a free and independent human being.
remind us of the high calling and high standards to which we all aspire. The humanities are, and must continue to be, the soli'd foundation upon
Because these distinguished faculty represent so much of what is best which a strong higher education is built.
and most important in university life, I would like to use this occasion to Remember, the humanities teach not only their own majors, but all
discuss with you a matter that I'm sure they would agree is of the utmost majors. Their classes concern all of us. If the critics are right and the
importance to all of us. humanities professors have betrayed their own disciplines, then it is nOl
The matter is the humanities. only their majors but all students who suffer. If the humanists are
As you undoubtedly know, the academic disciplines we call the right-as I believe they are-to claim that they are currently in the midst
humanities-philosophy, literature, history, and related fields-are in a of an extraordinary renewal and reinvigoration, we need to understand what
sort of crisis. A number of highly visible and vocal critics-most notably is going on so that we too can become their champions, and we need to be
former Secretary of Education William Bennett, University of Chicago sure that our students are effectively involved.
Professor Allan Bloom, and Chairman of the National Endowment for the In diplomacy, it is said that war is too important to leave to the
Humanities Lynne V. Cheney-have charged these disciplines with moral generals. In higher education, the humanities are too important to be left
failure and intellectual irresponsibility. to the humanists. We must all engage in it, for its outcomes will have a
If true, these charges are serious for that would signal a collapse of major effect on the education of all our students.
our belief in higher education as a liberating, humanistic process. They Our need is to understand what our students are learning in their
are not true, of course. Yet they signal a problem which cannot be humanities classes and what our colleagues are teaching. We need to see the
dismissed without some thought. facts which underlie the current furor and to understand the differing
---- hr. nutshelt,-the-critics claim that"today's-English and-plrilusophy--------rntefj'lretliIions of tnosefiiClS-:-Per aps most importan , we neeaTo Kiiow
professors, political scientists and historians have compromised the truth both what the humanities are contributing to our students and what we would
by selling out to ideology. hope to have from them.
Their indictment says that instead of teaching the central works of And finally, we should all be listening to the debate in order to
Western civilization, today 's humanities professors teach fashionable clarify our own ideas about humanistic education.
trivia. Rather than the "Great Books" they are teaching trendy but For my own pan, I would like to add a small bit to the debate by
inconsequential works by second-, third-, and tenth-rate authors. The claim mentioning three important vectors of change in higher education. These
is that today 's humanities professors are aSking students not to grapple three factors have not received much attention, but they are important.
with the central questions of civilized man but with the ephemeral and They will have a crucial role in shaping our curricula and instruction for
leftist agenda of racial oppression, class conflict, and economic the future.
exploitation. First, it seems to me that we cannot ignore, as Bennett and his
In Socrates' time, their charge would have been that the humanities followers seem to do, the simple fact that the student body in American
have become corrupters of youth. A generation ago, it would have been that higher education has been changing drastically for 30 years and is going to
the humanities have become un-American. Today, the charge is that they change still more. Our current system of providing liberal education was
promote cultural illiteracy. formed during the first half of this century. It served well so long as the
The humanities, fortunately, have some able defenders. Most students it was designed to serve-young, middle-to-upper-class white
impressively, the recent report by the American Council of Learned males-were the large majority in the student body.
Societies, Speaking for the Humanities, mounts a powerful counter-attack. That time, however, is past. The average college student today is not
It claims that today 's academic humanities are healthier, more vital, and 18-24 years old but closer to 30 than to 20. And most projections show that
more engaged in American intellectual life than ever before. the age of the student body will keep getting older for the next ten years,
And yet, the humanities are clearly on the defensive. The empirical at least. Today's college students and those of the future are more likely
evidence, though arguable and scattered, seems to support the critics. to be women than men, and the odds increasingly favor that they will be
American college graduates, according to Robert Zemsky's analysis of 30,000 Hispanic Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, or not Americans at
transcripts from a broad spectrum of colleges, have little depth in the all but international students.
humanities. And the NEH's report The Humanities in America cites a Today's students increasingly mix full-time work with pan-time study.
depressing litany of statistics demonstrating a 20-year decline in student Only a fraction of today's students graduate in four years; most punctuate
involvement with liberal ans disciplines. their time in school with extended periods of work. And nearly half of
It would be easy and, in some sense, natural for most of us to nod America's college students attend pan-time and in the evening. They do not
sagely about all this and let it go. After all, this is a dispute among the bring to the classroom the typical experiences of the traditional "college
liberal ans depanments, isn't it? It should be left to the English and boy." Instead, they have attitudes and ambitions developed in jobs and
philosophy faculties. The large majority of our faculty at VCU-indeed. at offices and factories, and they think more like employees or managers than
any major research university-are in the scientific, professional, and like adolescents.
technological disciplines, not the humanities. This dispute, one might Is it any wonder, then, that the system developed to serve traditional
argue, is not a part of our concern. students is breaking down as the student body becomes progressively more
Traditionally, that's how we handle things at universities. We let the pluralistic, international, multicultural, and nontraditional? Older, more
experts in the disciplines determine their own needs and make their own experienced at work and in life, predominately female, increasingly drawn
decisions about what and how to teach. from ethnic minorities, the changing student bodies look for different
In this case, though, such an attitude is seriously wrong. The liberal things from higher education than former ones, and they bring a very
ans concern all of us. A college degree means more than just a thorough different set of assumptions to their role as students.
mastery of a single discipline or science. It also means that those who
receive it have some broad and general understanding of truths far exceeding